PA-238/339 Implementation:

Essential Workers and Quarantine

Michigan.gov/Coronavirus

January 25, 2021

Background: COVID-19 Worker Protections

Employees have many rights during COVID-19, such as protection from unsafe workplace
conditions and exposure; a right not to be forced to work while ill or in quarantine; and access
to unemployment compensation or paid sick leave if unable to work. These rights stem from
multiple sources including federal law, state law, and state administrative rules. Further
information about worker protections under Michigan orders and laws can be found here.

PA 238/339
Public Act 238 of 2020, signed into law on October 22, 2020, and amended on December 30th,
2020 through Public Act 339 of 2020, provides important legal protections for employees during
COVID-19. This law governs COVID-19 isolation and quarantine periods and prohibits
employers from taking adverse actions against employees affected by COVID-19. Specifically, PA
238/339 provides legal protection for employees who are complying with quarantine or isolation
guidelines and notes that they may not be “discharge[ed], discipline[d], or otherwise retaliate[d]
against” by employers if they are complying with public health guidelines. In other words,
employers cannot fire or otherwise retaliate against employees who do not come to work
because they are in isolation or quarantine.

PA 339 also provides that there is an exemption for quarantine requirements for individuals
under very specific circumstances:

An employee who is any of the following, is otherwise subject to quarantine, is not

experiencing any symptoms, and has not tested positive for COVID-19 may be allowed to
participate in onsite operations when strictly necessary to preserve the function of a facility
where cessation of operation of the facility would cause serious harm or danger to public
health or safety.

Individuals who fall into this category may continue to work during quarantine, but only to the
extent that their work is strictly necessary to continue operations. Mere inconvenience or
overtime expense faced by an employer to secure an alternative employee to fill in is insufficient
to trigger exemption from quarantine.
When such workers are required to continue working while quarantined, they must closely
follow all CDC guidelines. Specifically, CDC notes that asymptomatic essential workers who
continue to work instead of quarantining should adhere to the following precautions:

 Pre-Screen: Encourage employees planning to enter the workplace to self-screen at

home prior to coming onsite. Employees should not attempt to enter the workplace if
any of the following are present: symptoms of COVID-19; temperature equal to or higher
than 100.4 oF1; or are waiting for the results of a viral test.
 Screen at the workplace: Employers should conduct an on-site symptom assessment,
including temperature screening, prior to each work shift. Ideally, screening should
happen before the individual enters the facility.
 Regularly monitor: As long as the employee doesn’t have a fever or symptoms, they
should self-monitor under the supervision of their employer’s occupational health
program or their workplace COVID-19 coordinator or team.
 Wear a cloth mask: Ensure all employees wear a cloth mask in accordance with CDC
and OSHA guidance and any state or local requirements.
 Social Distance: Employee should stay at least 6 feet apart from others and practice
social distancing as work duties permit in the workplace.
 Clean and disinfect workspaces: Clean and disinfect all areas such as offices,
bathrooms, common areas, shared equipment routinely.

Covered categories of workers

PA 339 notes that the following workers may continue to work rather than quarantining if they
are asymptomatic and follow the safety precautions described above:
• A health care professional.
• A worker at a health care facility.
• A first responder.
• A child protective service employee.
• A worker at a child caring institution, as that term is defined in section 1 of 1973 PA 116,
MCL 722.111.
• A worker at an adult foster care facility, as that term is defined in section 3 of the adult
foster care facility licensing act, 1979 PA 218, MCL 400.703.
• A worker at a correctional facility.
• A worker in the energy industry who performs essential energy services as described in
the United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s Guidance on the
Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce: Ensuring Community and National Resilience in
COVID-19 Response, Version 2.0, March 28, 2020.
PA 339 also empowers the Director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
to “designate categories of critical employees at facilities where cessation of operations would
cause serious harm or danger to public health or safety.”

Through this guidance, MDHHS hereby specifies that the following employees are also included
in the category of exempted critical employees who may be required to continue working:

• A 911 dispatcher
• A public health professional
• A worker in an election
• A worker at a water, sewer, wastewater, or internet utility
• A worker providing public works, which includes maintaining, repairing, and clearing
roads or refuse collection or disposal services
• A worker providing public transit services
• A worker in a court of law
• A funeral worker or medical examiner